Chapter 332: The Tin Knight and the Revived Myth – Opium & Dracaena (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 332: The Tin Knight and the Revived Myth – Opium & Dracaena (4)
The one-winged dragon lost its balance and plummeted toward the earth.
You were about to transition to a ground battle, but a tremendous amount of mana suddenly surged around the dragon's body, and its descent began to slow.
You didn't know the exact principle behind what the dragon had done.
But you could sense intuitively that while its wings were important for flight, they were not essential.
And that if you left it be, the dragon would soar high into the sky once more.
Your judgment was swift.
You maneuvered the eagle close to the falling dragon, then launched yourself toward it.
The momentum of your downward plunge. The weight of your body, a mass of metal. The mana surging from every part of your being.
One alone would have struggled to even scratch the dragon's body.
Two would have only managed a small dent.
Even with all three, the dragon would have endured and taken flight again.
So, you decided to multiply the three.
A skill etched into your body made it possible.
CRRRRAAAAASSSSH!
As the shield you swung found its mark, the dragon's colossal body was flung to the ground.
A massive crater formed, and the resulting spray of dirt and sand sullied the dragon's beautiful scales.
Propelled back into the air by the recoil of the blow, you landed atop the eagle that had just drawn near.
Your plan was to dive and strike the dragon once more.
However, you were forced to revise your plan.
A tremendous wave of mana pulsed from below.
Before the eagle could even swerve, the dragon's breath attack erupted toward you.
Realizing that a complete defense or evasion was impossible, you left only the bare minimum mana needed for movement and poured the rest into your shield, raising it to block the breath.
To 'deflect' a torrent of pure mana as if it were a physical blow was exceedingly difficult, but this was no longer a question of 'can I,' but 'I must.'
The result was a partial success.
Your left shoulder and your shield. In exchange for most of your mana, you succeeded in deflecting the dragon's breath.
Bidding farewell to the shield from Franka's shop that had served you so long, you plummeted toward the grounded dragon.
You had expended most of your mana on that defense, so it would take some time to replenish, but that didn't matter.
Striking a vital point was never about raw power.
CRUNCH!
《──■■■■! ! !》
The dragon's pained roar echoed.
The result of you stabbing your sword into its right eye.
Twisting the hilt to ensure the eye was destroyed, you leaped from the dragon's body without further hesitation.
A merciless parade of light beams erupted from all over its skin once more.
Parrying a beam aimed at your head with your sword, you assessed the dragon's condition.
Despite having unleashed torrents of destructive power several times, the dragon's mana showed no signs of depleting.
You realized this was due to the dragon's ability to reabsorb the mana it had fired.
Even though it seemed to be recklessly firing mana-intensive attacks, it reabsorbed and reused most of it, meaning its actual mana consumption was relatively low.
You paid it no mind.
[The 'Tin Knight' exclaims that no matter how much MP you have, it's all over when your HP hits zero!]
You cut off the mana being consumed to repair your left arm, reinforcing your body with what remained as you charged forward.
*
The second battle between the knight and the dragon was a struggle straight out of myth.
The map was redrawn with every blast of ruinous light, and the oversaturated mana twisted the very environment—the land, the weather—into bizarre shapes.
The dragon's power was truly enough to annihilate a nation.
Yet the knight did not hesitate.
Having cast aside a human body, he fully utilized his form, which was specialized for combat, to stick as close to the dragon as possible.
Even for a dragon with overwhelming offensive power, that power was maximized when firing at a distant target.
In fact, precisely because the attacks were so powerful, it couldn't use them near its own body. It would be caught in its own blast.
While in the sky, the dragon could unilaterally unleash its overwhelming firepower, but once on the ground, its attacks were severely limited.
Still, the dragon was strong.
Though not as potent as its pure breath, it generated powerful beams of light from all over its body, firing them in every direction, and did not hesitate to swing its tail or claws in close-quarters combat.
The title of the strongest among the eight generals was not earned for nothing.
The knight's sword pierced the dragon's scales, the dragon's claws tore the knight's armor, and the mana they both wielded shattered their surroundings.
How much time had passed?
It felt like a battle that had raged for days, yet it could have been mere minutes.
At a certain moment, the dragon and the knight both sensed it simultaneously. The end of this fight was near.
The dragon took a deep breath.
This was not a probing attack. It was not a bluff. It was a breath of maximum power, with all its might behind it.
Unleashing such a thing at point-blank range would not leave the dragon unscathed, but it didn't care.
The knight realized. The dragon's breath, for all its immense power, was a technique that required just as much preparation.
It was an opening of only a few seconds, one that most beings could never exploit, but for a warrior of the knight's caliber, it was more than enough time to inflict a fatal wound before the dragon's preparation was complete.
But, at the same time, the knight realized something else. Even if he pierced its heart or severed its neck, the dragon would not stop its breath.
The knight did not fear death, but behind him lay a city of the kingdom.
There, the Queen of Ashes had traveled from the capital to this frontline city, all to supply him with limitless mana.
The death of the Queen, who was protecting the entire kingdom with a barrier, would bring about the ruin of the kingdom itself.
If he failed to block it, the dragon's final attack would incinerate the city and the Queen along with it.
Therefore, the knight did not try to preemptively suppress the dragon's attack.
Instead, he waited for the dragon to fire.
He sharpened every nerve in his body to its limit—no, beyond its limit—to seize the one and only possibility that led to absolute victory.
──────! ! ! ! !
The dragon's roar was unleashed.
The knight's sword was swung.
A single strike that cleaved the air, the earth, space, and perhaps even time itself.
The dragon's breath was bisected. The impossible had happened.
And—
*
—Your sword had severed the dragon's life.
With a deep, gushing wound running from its chest to its abdomen, the dragon's body seemed to crumble... but then it stopped.
It staggered, but as if refusing to show the disgrace of falling, it held its ground.
Tuk. A single scale fell from the dragon's neck.
The scale, which had been emitting an emerald light, seemed unable to withstand the fierce battle and crumbled into dust.
Your gaze met the dragon's.
《────.》
The dragon uttered no words.
No hatred or hostility toward you.
No resentment or anger toward the heavens.
It didn't even offer a final testament.
Perhaps it was the dragon's own form of pride.
The dragon was a being of the underground. An invader who had displayed all manner of tyranny and stolen countless lives from the creatures of the surface.
Even if the dragon had its own reasons and pride, the beings of the surface had no obligation to understand or accept them.
Therefore, the dragon attempted neither conversation nor understanding.
It was a tyrannical and cruel dragon. And in its own mind, that was enough.
Your predecessor might have simply let such a dragon depart.
But you were not your predecessor, so you voiced a small complaint.
[The 'Tin Knight' requests that you stop just trying to look cool as you disappear and at least leave some rewards!]
The dragon did not answer.
It was doubtful if it had even heard you.
And yet, for some reason, just before it vanished into light from head to toe, the dragon's form seemed to scoff.
A part of the light emanating from the dragon's body touched you.
That was all.
You felt no special power, nor was any item left behind.
But as if its business was done, the dragon vanished.
You scratched the back of your head for a moment, then approached the carriage where Dorothea was.
And then, you noticed something strange.
Dorothea was sitting on a chair in the carriage's cargo bed, continuously creating new undead.
But her eyes were vacant, as if unfocused.
Just as you reached out to grab her shoulder and shake her, the Game Book rustled open before your eyes, and words began to form on its pages.
《—The main part of this heroic tale is over. However, an epilogue remains.》
《I will not harm your precious contractor. So, will you wait just a little?》
You hesitated for a moment.
You knew the Game Book was imbued with something like a rudimentary artificial intelligence, but whoever was speaking to you now seemed far removed from that.
A suspicious entity. A suspicious suggestion.
Normally, this would be an opponent to be cut down immediately, but the problem was that you couldn't tell where the enemy's true form was.
As you saw it, the Game Book was merely a mail carrier; the enemy's true self was residing within Dorothea.
After a brief deliberation, you nodded.
《…Oh, that’s surprising. I thought you would try to force her awake from the dream.》
You replied simply.
If it was inside Dorothea's body, it should be able to hear your words as well.
[The 'Tin Knight' says that Dorothea's fight is her own!]
[The 'Tin Knight' says she'll come back safely anyway, and he'd rather not butt in and get yelled at for being clueless!]
The Game Book was silent.
《…….》
《I see. You really are different from ‘him.’》
《Flippant, impulsive, fighting for enjoyment rather than duty. You're less a hero and more a cheerful menace.》
《Ah. And yet. Perhaps that way was better.》
《Hmm, what should I do?》
The 'someone' speaking through the Game Book seemed to ponder for a moment, then asked a question.
《The young witch intervened in your battle as an ally, even while fighting her own.》
《In that case, it shouldn't be a problem for you to intervene a little in this battle. All that's left is to watch the epilogue, after all.》
《What do you say? Care to try? You can ignore this if you think it's a trap.》
The Game Book's pages fluttered.
It was shaped as if a person were extending a hand for a handshake.
You hesitated for a moment, then took the offered hand.
《—A good choice. Then, let's witness it together.》
《A somewhat bittersweet epilogue.》
《The prelude to your meeting with the witch.》
Your consciousness was dyed in darkness.